Frankie M. Gray

Frankie Melissa Gray was born October 9, 1916 in Ozark County, Missouri, near Gainsville, to William Wesley and Ida Florence Manning-Coffey. She married Orville Houston Gray on November 12, 1936 at Vinita, Oklahoma. From this union there were two sons, John E. and Jim E. Gray.

Frankie told the story of the trip from Missouri to Commerce, Oklahoma in a covered wagon. She was the youngest member of the family at the time and she rode in the seat with her mother and father. She said the trip took about a month. Her father worked in the Eagle Pitcher mine, in Pitcher, Oklahoma, until his death from black lung disease in 1930.

Frankie's hobbies included keeping her house clean and working in her flowers. She also liked to fish, which she did quite frequently. She was a member of the First Christian Church in Cleveland.

Frankie went to be with the Lord on Friday, April 27, 2007 at the age of ninety years, six months and eighteen days. She was preceded in death by her parents; three brothers, Virgil Coffey, Rufus Coffey and Eugene Coffey; three sisters, LaVerne Biggs, Lucille Bailey and Pauline Iness; half brother, Claudie Cramer; and a half sister, Betty Gregory.

She is survived by her two sons and their wives, John E. and Allene Gray of Sand Springs, Oklahoma and Jim E. and Debby Gray of Tulsa, Oklahoma; three grandchildren, Melody McCallie of Sand Springs, Oklahoma, Scott Gray of Sand Springs, Oklahoma, and Michael Gray of Copan, Oklahoma; two sisters, Claudine Conway and Maxine Shaver, both of Perry, Oklahoma; a brother, John Cramer of Lawton, Oklahoma; and several nieces and nephews. She will be greatly missed by all of her family and friends.

Funeral services will be held at 2:00 pm, Thursday, May 3, 2007 at the Woodland Cemetery Chapel in Cleveland with Emile Bayouth officiating. Burial will be under the direction of the Chapman-Black Funeral Home.